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Experiences Of Black American Millennials: A Qualitative Study Of Internalized And Externalized Coping In The Face Of Racial Trauma, Natalia Angelique Giles

Doctoral Dissertations

The experiences Black Americans have faced when standing against racial trauma have impacted the Black community for generations. Though previous generations faced overt styles of racism throughout the eras of slavery and Jim Crow, the invalidation and discrimination have remained consistent within the experiences of the Black American millennial (BAM) generation. Current experiences BAMs face are a combination of both overt and covert styles of racism, which increase mental exhaustion, reduce motivation, and leave the individual psychologically defenseless. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experiences of BAMs in the face of racial trauma. This qualitative research …

Examining Teaching And Research Anxieties, Self-Efficacy, And Coping In Biology Graduate Teaching Assistants (Gtas): A Snapshot Of Graduate Student Mental Health, Miranda Mann Lin Chen Musgrove

Doctoral Dissertations

Graduate students report increasing levels of anxiety and depression compared to the general public, negatively impacting their overall mental health and degree attainment in graduate programs. Yet we are only beginning to understand what contributes to graduate student anxiety. Biology Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) in particular occupy an “ambiguous niche” in academia with simultaneous roles as teachers, researchers, students, and employees. Balancing these roles can contribute to anxieties, particularly in regard to teaching and research responsibilities. My dissertation investigated Biology GTA anxieties related to teaching and research roles, how these anxieties change over time, how GTAs cope with these emotions, …

Parenting After The Death Of A Co-Parent: A Qualitative Study Of The Lived Experiences Of Surviving Parents, Erin Donohue

Doctoral Dissertations

Findings from this study suggest that surviving parents’ parenting experiences following a co-parent’s death are difficult and multifaceted in comparison to co-parenting before the death. A parent’s death is an unexpected event that incurs family stress and grief for remaining family members, whom often include the surviving parent and dependent children (i.e., children under the age of 18). Following loss, it is typical for family members to experience role confusion and reorganization, as the surviving parent is expected to fulfill certain norms (i.e., assuming full guardianship and parenting roles) with their children. According to Belsky’s Process Model of Parenting, bereavement-related …

United States Elite Youth Tennis Athletes’ Use Of Psychological Strategies In Competition, Emily Earlynn Lauer

Doctoral Dissertations

Young athletes are routinely faced with stressors and competitive structures that collegiate and adult athletes face. Psychological skills training (PST) can provide young athletes with strategies and skills to cope with these stressors and ultimately influence sport performance (Vealey, 2007). To date, the only study exploring in-competition experiences of young athletes was with participants between 16 and 18 years of age (Van Raalte, Brewer, Rivera, & Petitpas, 1994). The current study is the first investigation on the in-competition experiences of children and adolescents in sport. Twelve elite young tennis athletes (M[subscript]age = 11.83) who trained within a Player Development program …

Hiv-Related Stigma And Health Among People Living With Hiv In Middle Georgia: Examining The Roles Of Stress And Coping, Kaylee Burnham

Doctoral Dissertations

Objective – HIV-related stigma and discrimination are drivers of health disparities among people living with HIV (PLWH). The U.S. South bears much of the burden of the domestic HIV epidemic. This study seeks to explore the dynamic effects of HIV-related stigma on health outcomes in a population of PLWH in middle Georgia. Experiences of enacted HIV stigma in the past year were assessed and participants indicated how stressful these events were and how they coped with the most impactful event. The primary study aim tested a moderated serial mediation model of HIV stigma on health in this population.

Method – …

Ethnic Discrimination And Psychological Distress Among Middle Eastern/Arab Americans: The Roles Of Religiosity, Coping, Ethnic Identity, And Family Connectedness, Ayse Selin Ikizler

Doctoral Dissertations

Despite increased public attention in the past decade towards the Middle East and Arab world, only a small but growing body of research literature investigating the mental health of individuals with ethnic background originating in these countries exists. Given the major stigma associated with being Middle Eastern/Arab (MEA) in the United States, the mental health-related implications for MEA Americans is of particular interest in the present study. Specifically, we investigated (1) the moderating role of religiosity in the link between religious affiliation and ethnic discrimination and (2) potential mediators (coping via internalization, detachment, and drugs/alcohol) and moderators (ethnic identity and …

Ptsd, Academic Achievement, And College Persistence: The Moderating Effects Of Coping Mechanisms And Social Support, Rebecca Granda

Doctoral Dissertations

Prevalence rates of lifetime exposure to trauma for college students range from 50 to 90% indicating that most college students begin the first year of college with a history of trauma. Previous studies suggest a significant negative relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and college retention; however, these studies have mainly focused on the negative effects of trauma exposure and PTSD on college students' persistence. As a result, it was unknown whether the effects of PTSD on academic achievement and college persistence can be moderated by protective factors, such as coping skills and social support. The purpose of this study …

Stress, Coping, And Well Being Of African American College Women: A Grounded Theory Study, Christine R. Hannon

Doctoral Dissertations

African American women are a rapidly growing population on college campuses. Though enrollment trends suggest an increase in African American women’s pursuit of educational attainment, they face unique challenges and obstacles (National Center for Education Statistics, 2011). Researchers have noted that stressful life events have detrimental effects on the emotional, physical, and mental well-being of college students (Greer & Brown, 2011; Reynolds, Sneva, & Beehler, 2010; Hall et al., 2006; Larson, 2006; Andrews & Wilding, 2004; Nonis et al., 1998; Shapiro et al., 1998; Cohen & Herbert, 1996; Van Eck et al., 1996). Research focused on the unique challenges of …

Learning Through Uncertainty: A Phenomenological Study Of Older, Professional Men Coping With Involuntary Job Loss, Brian Hentz

Doctoral Dissertations

Since the 2007-08 global financial crisis, older, professional men have suffered their fair share of job losses (i.e., “mancession”). Involuntary job loss presents a challenging life transition that requires coping skills, and learning through the uncertainties of later-life job loss is a major part of the coping process. The challenge for facilitators of adult learning is to understand how these men learn from and through this life transition, and what types of learning experiences relate to adaptive coping.

The conceptual framework for this phenomenological study was developed by synthesizing research literature on coping and job loss. This framework informed the …

You Kind Of Have To Prove It: Gender Microaggressions Within The Lived Experiences Of Women In Engineering, Crystal Rose Diaz-Espinoza

Doctoral Dissertations

This intrinsic case study explored the lived experiences of women within three engineering majors at a mid-sized institution in the Mid-Atlantic using gender microaggressions (Nadal, 2010; Sue, 2007) as a theoretical lens. Data included individual interviews with 28 participants as well as document review from Web pages and observations from physical spaces within the campus engineering building. Data analysis resulted in seven themes in congruence with Sue’s (2007) taxonomy of gender microaggressions and further established the three levels of gender microaggressions distinguished by Nadal (2010). Findings also revealed that barriers within engineering were less visible or outwardly sexist, and that …

Affective Coping Among Individuals Reporting A History Of Rejection, Ppudah Ki

Doctoral Dissertations

The ability to adapt to stress and life difficulties is a vital aspect of human development and functioning. Coping is one of the crucial constructs that influences this adjustment process. Accordingly, this study draws from interpersonal acceptance-rejection theory’s (IPARTheory) coping subtheory, which recognizes that the psychological adjustment of some individuals who experience themselves to be seriously rejected by attachment figures is not as seriously impaired as it is for the majority of individuals who experience serious rejection. These people are called affective copers. This dissertation focused primarily on seven research questions dealing with affective copers. Secondarily, for comparison purposes, …

Stress And Resilience: The Negative And Positive Aspects Of Being An Asian American Lesbian Or Bisexual Woman, Mi Ra Sung

Doctoral Dissertations

Despite the richness of the literature about minority stress and negative psychological outcomes and growing attention on lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) people of color, few studies have examined the intersection of multiple identities of Asian American lesbian and bisexual women (AA LBW). Thus, the purpose of this study was to provide an understanding of the experiences of 50 AA LBW. More specifically, this study explored challenges, coping strategies, and positive aspects of being an AA LBW through the lens of intersectionality. Qualitative analyses revealed three overarching domains concerning day-to-day challenges faced by AA LBW: living as AA sexual minority women …

Exploring Coping Mediators Between Heterosexist Oppression And Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms Among Gay, Lesbian, And Bisexual Persons, Kyle M. Bandermann

Doctoral Dissertations

Recently, scholars have begun to advocate that categories of traumatic events be expanded to include experiences that do not meet the traditional diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), such as oppression. Our study builds on this work by examining experiences with two kinds of heterosexist oppression, one that meets the traditional diagnostic criteria for PTSD (i.e., sexual orientation-based hate crime victimization) and one that does not (i.e., heterosexist discrimination), as predictors of PTSD symptoms in a sample of 427 gay, lesbian and bisexual persons who responded to an online survey. In addition, we examined the mediating roles of coping …

Posttraumatic Growth In Female Sexual Assault Survivors, Jessica Renee Mason

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined factors associated with the development of posttraumatic growth following sexual assault in 11 female survivors, six months to five years after the assault. To broaden our understanding of how survivors cope with the effects and impacts of their assault and how this ultimately leads to the development of posttraumatic growth, this study used grounded theory methodology to develop a causal model of how growth can occur following sexual assault. A mixed-methods qualitative study (utilizing some quantitative features) was used. The data analysis team concluded that participants described a process consisting of four super-clusters that subsumes nine major …

The Roles Of Stress Appraisal And Self-Efficacy In Fostering Resilience To Improve Psychosocial Outcomes Following Negative Life Events Among College Students: A Multiple Mediation Analysis, Jennifer Anne Cody

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation study was to explore the interrelationships between stress appraisal, self-efficacy, and psychosocial outcomes (i.e., resilience and self-concept) within the context of negative life events among college students. Participants (n = 220) were undergraduate students enrolled at a large southeastern university. Study participants completed the Life Experiences Survey (Sarason et al., 1978), the General Self-Efficacy Scale (Sherer et al., 1982), the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (Connor & Davidson, 2003), the Multidimensional Self-Concept Scale (Fleming & Courtney, 1984), and the Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen et al., 1983). Two hypothesized models of multiple mediation were proposed to explain the …

Posttraumatic Growth Reported By Emerging Adults: A Multigroup Analysis Of The Roles Of Attachment, Support, Coping, And Life Satisfaction, Steven D. Schmidt

Doctoral Dissertations

Research on posttraumatic growth (PTG) has mostly been conducted with individuals who experienced traumatic events during adulthood, and relatively little research has been conducted with survivors of traumatic events experienced during adolescence. In addition to the paucity of research with younger samples, growth – as conceptualized in the theoretical framework on PTG – can also arise from non-traumatic events such as normative life transitions (e.g., entering college); however, the differentiating characteristics of growth that develop from these two paths has not been empirically investigated. The current study explores these different pathways to growth by analyzing data from a group of …

A Study Of Graduate Student Grief And Prolonged Grief Disorder, Mary Alice Varga

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of grief among graduate students, the effects of their grief, types of support sought, and risk of prolonged grief disorder. A total of 1, 575 graduate students enrolled at a large public Southeastern university completed an online survey about their grief experiences. Students experiencing a significant loss also completed the Prolonged Grief Disorder Questionnaire. Findings revealed that approximately 25% of graduate students experienced the loss of a significant person in their lives within the past 24 months. Graduate students reported various grief effects, with emotional effects being the most significant. …

Examining The Relationship Between Work/Life Conflict And Life Satisfaction In Executives: The Role Of Problem-Focused Coping Techniques, Heather S Mcmillan

Doctoral Dissertations

Determining not only what makes people, but also how many people are, satisfied personally and with work has become an ongoing stream of research for both academics and practitioners. The idea of satisfaction is of such concern today that Gallup-Healthways conducts a survey, and reports, on the daily well-being of Americans (http://www.gallup.com/poll/106915/ gallup-daily-us-mood.aspx). Given the importance of satisfaction to individuals, organizations and society at large, it is imperative to understand the predictors and mediators of satisfaction. Research has been conducted on the negative (i.e., inverse) relationship between satisfaction and work/life conflict, as well as the positive relationship between coping and …

Sleep Quality Of College Students And Its Relationship To Coping Styles And Well-Being, Cathy Alison Word

Doctoral Dissertations

College students suffer from more sleep disturbances than the general population. Sleep difficulties in college students can lead to lower levels of performance, memory, and cognitive ability, as well as increased levels of anxiety and decreased levels of well-being. Sleep quality is known to impact individuals' physical and psychological health, which are indicators of well-being. Sleep also appears to influence individuals' choices of coping strategies. Sleep quality is also highly correlated with college students' emotional response to stress. The relationships between and among sleep quality, well-being, and coping style have not been fully examined. The purpose of this study was …

The Relationships Among Levels Of Hope, Coping Efficacy And Postsecondary Educational Expectations Of High School Seniors, Linda D. Griffin

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to answer two research questions: (1) Is there a relationship between high school seniors' levels of hope and their postsecondary educational plans? and (2) Is there a relationship between high school seniors' coping efficacy and their postsecondary educational plans? Three hundred and twenty-five students enrolled in English IV classes from seven high schools in three separate school districts in north central Louisiana completed the three survey instruments. Standard descriptive statistics were derived as appropriate for each of the two independent variables and dependent variable. The two independent variables were hope, as measured by the …

An Investigation Of Reactance, Coping, Quality Of Life, And Well -Being, Monique Maria Matherne

Doctoral Dissertations

Psychological reactance (reactance) is a personality variable receiving a great deal of attention. Reactance has been defined as the motivational force aroused in an individual when a behavioral freedom is lost or threatened (Brehm, 1966). The current study assessed the interrelationships among psychological reactance, coping, quality of life, and well-being. A total of 353 participants were analyzed for this study. Participants completed four self-report instruments: (1) the Therapeutic Reactance Scale, (2) the Coping Styles Questionnaire, (3) the Overall Quality of Life Scale, (4) the General Well-Being Schedule, and a demographics questionnaire. Significant gender differences existed for reactance, detachment coping, emotional …